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Key suspects in Abhinav Bharat's terror campaign have never been held, hence controversy Signs are investigation into German Bakery blast will take time PUNE: Back in November 2008, as Lieutenant-Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit walked into a Nashik court to face trial for his alleged role in the bombing of a Malegaon mosque, Hindutva activists showered the rogue military officer with rose petals. Last week's bombing of the German Bakery in Pune has brought the ugly story of Abhinav Bharat — the Hindutva terrorist group Purohit helped found — back from the obscurity to which it was consigned by the Mumbai carnage, which took place just days after the trial in Nashik began. In private, Hindus sympathetic to the ultra-right have been saying the bombings demonstrate the moral legitimacy of Purohit and his Hindutva terror project. Even as the police detained more than two dozen young Muslim men for questioning, some community leaders have been arguing that the bakery attack could just have easily been carried out by a Hindutva group. Part of the reason for the controversy is that key suspects involved in Abhinav Bharat's terror campaign have never been held. Jatin Chatterjee — better known by his alias Swami Asimanand — is thought to be hiding out in Gujarat's Adivasi tracts, where he runs a Hindu proselytisation organisation. Ramnarayan Kalsangra, Abhinav Bharat's key bomb-maker, is also a fugitive. Founded in the summer of 2006, Abhinav Bharat was set up as an educational trust with Himani Savarkar — daughter of Gopal Godse, brother of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin — as its chairperson. But, documents filed by Maharashtra prosecutors show, members of the group were soon involved in discussing armed activity. In June 2007, Purohit allegedly suggested that the time had come to target Muslims through terrorist attacks — a plea others in Abhinav Bharat rejected. But, the evidence gathered by the police suggests, many within the group were determined to press ahead. At a meeting in April 2008, key suspects including Madhya Pradesh-based Hindutva activist Pragnya Singh Thakur and Jammu cleric Sudhakar Dwivedi, also known as Amritananda Dev Tirtha, met Purohit to hammer out the Malegaon plot. Explosives were later procured by Purohit, and handed over to Kalsangra in early August 2008. Abhinav Bharat's long-term aims, though, went far beyond targeting Muslims: its members wanted to overthrow the Indian state and replace it with a totalitarian, theocratic order. A draft constitution prepared by Abhinav Bharat spoke of a single-party system, presided over by a leader who "shall be followed at all levels without questioning the authority." It called for the creation of an "academy of indoctrinization [sic.]." The concluding comment was stark: "People whose ideas are detrimental to Hindu Rashtra should be killed." Purohit's plans to bring about a Hindutva state were often fantastical. He claimed, the prosecutors say, to have secured an appointment with Nepal's King Gyanendra in 2006 and 2007 to press for his support for the planned Hindutva revolution. Nepal, he went on, was willing to train Abhinav Bharat's cadre, and supply it with assault rifles. Israel's government, he said, had agreed to grant members of the group military support and, if needed, political asylum. Many believe that Abhinav Bharat carried out many attacks earlier attributed to jihadist groups — notable among them, the bombing of the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in May 2007, and a subsequent attack on the famous shrine at Ajmer. Despite persistent questioning of Abhinav Bharat cadre, though, the investigators have not been able to link the group to the attacks. Matters are complicated by the fact that some of the operations attributed to Abhinav Bharat may not have had much to do with the group — even though its leading luminaries claimed responsibility for the attacks. For example, Purohit allegedly claimed to confidants that the attack was carried out by the Dewas-based Hindutva terrorist Sunil Joshi, who was murdered in December 2007. But the United States Treasury Department later imposed sanctions on Lashkar-e-Taiba activist Arif Kasmani — a Karachi-based jihadist with close links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda — for financing the attack. In January this year, Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik went further, admitting that "there were some Pakistan-based Islamists who had been hired to carry out the Samjhauta Express attack." Judging by recent Hindutva terror attacks, like last year's bombings in Goa, it is unclear if they still have the capabilities to mount a sophisticated attack of the kind seen in Pune. Few investigators believe that the organisations — or other Hindutva cells — mounted the operation. "Still", says one Maharashtra police official involved in investigating both Hindutva and jihadist attacks, "you can't help wondering — what if?" Signs are the investigation into the bombing of the German Bakery will take time. All that investigators have by way of suspects are three men recorded holding brief meetings before the blast by a poor-quality closed-circuit television camera. From the videotape, it is unclear if the men had anything to do with the attack. The longer the investigation takes, the more time conspiracy theories and speculation will have to proliferate — likely deepening the communal fissures the bombing is already opening up. 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From: Feroze Mithiborwala <feroze.moses777@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM
Subject: Hindutva terror probe haunts Pune investigation Praveen Swami - The Hindu / Need To Throw The Net Wider To Catch Pune Bombers By Mustafa Khan
To: Feroze Mithiborwala <feroze.moses777@gmail.com>, awami_bharat@googlegroups.com, peace-mumbai <peace-mumbai@googlegroups.com>, citizen-mumbai <citizen-mumbai@googlegroups.com>, grey-youth-movement@googlegroups.com, mumbai_intellectuals_voice_and_media_source@yahoogroups.com, muslim_youth_connection@yahoogroups.com, Palash Biswas <palashbiswaskl@gmail.com>, kishor jagtap <kishorda_jagtap@yahoo.co.in>
Hindutva terror probe haunts Pune investigation
Praveen Swami| Investigators focus on jihadist groups, but some fear Hindutva group may have carried out German Bakery bombing |
Key suspects in Abhinav Bharat's terror campaign have never been held, hence controversy
Signs are investigation into German Bakery blast will take time
PUNE: Back in November 2008, as Lieutenant-Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit walked into a Nashik court to face trial for his alleged role in the bombing of a Malegaon mosque, Hindutva activists showered the rogue military officer with rose petals.
Last week's bombing of the German Bakery in Pune has brought the ugly story of Abhinav Bharat — the Hindutva terrorist group Purohit helped found — back from the obscurity to which it was consigned by the Mumbai carnage, which took place just days after the trial in Nashik began.
In private, Hindus sympathetic to the ultra-right have been saying the bombings demonstrate the moral legitimacy of Purohit and his Hindutva terror project. Even as the police detained more than two dozen young Muslim men for questioning, some community leaders have been arguing that the bakery attack could just have easily been carried out by a Hindutva group.
Part of the reason for the controversy is that key suspects involved in Abhinav Bharat's terror campaign have never been held. Jatin Chatterjee — better known by his alias Swami Asimanand — is thought to be hiding out in Gujarat's Adivasi tracts, where he runs a Hindu proselytisation organisation. Ramnarayan Kalsangra, Abhinav Bharat's key bomb-maker, is also a fugitive.
Founded in the summer of 2006, Abhinav Bharat was set up as an educational trust with Himani Savarkar — daughter of Gopal Godse, brother of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin — as its chairperson. But, documents filed by Maharashtra prosecutors show, members of the group were soon involved in discussing armed activity. In June 2007, Purohit allegedly suggested that the time had come to target Muslims through terrorist attacks — a plea others in Abhinav Bharat rejected.
But, the evidence gathered by the police suggests, many within the group were determined to press ahead. At a meeting in April 2008, key suspects including Madhya Pradesh-based Hindutva activist Pragnya Singh Thakur and Jammu cleric Sudhakar Dwivedi, also known as Amritananda Dev Tirtha, met Purohit to hammer out the Malegaon plot. Explosives were later procured by Purohit, and handed over to Kalsangra in early August 2008.
Abhinav Bharat's long-term aims, though, went far beyond targeting Muslims: its members wanted to overthrow the Indian state and replace it with a totalitarian, theocratic order. A draft constitution prepared by Abhinav Bharat spoke of a single-party system, presided over by a leader who "shall be followed at all levels without questioning the authority." It called for the creation of an "academy of indoctrinization [sic.]." The concluding comment was stark: "People whose ideas are detrimental to Hindu Rashtra should be killed."
Purohit's plans to bring about a Hindutva state were often fantastical. He claimed, the prosecutors say, to have secured an appointment with Nepal's King Gyanendra in 2006 and 2007 to press for his support for the planned Hindutva revolution. Nepal, he went on, was willing to train Abhinav Bharat's cadre, and supply it with assault rifles. Israel's government, he said, had agreed to grant members of the group military support and, if needed, political asylum.
Many believe that Abhinav Bharat carried out many attacks earlier attributed to jihadist groups — notable among them, the bombing of the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in May 2007, and a subsequent attack on the famous shrine at Ajmer. Despite persistent questioning of Abhinav Bharat cadre, though, the investigators have not been able to link the group to the attacks.
Matters are complicated by the fact that some of the operations attributed to Abhinav Bharat may not have had much to do with the group — even though its leading luminaries claimed responsibility for the attacks.
For example, Purohit allegedly claimed to confidants that the attack was carried out by the Dewas-based Hindutva terrorist Sunil Joshi, who was murdered in December 2007. But the United States Treasury Department later imposed sanctions on Lashkar-e-Taiba activist Arif Kasmani — a Karachi-based jihadist with close links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda — for financing the attack.
In January this year, Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik went further, admitting that "there were some Pakistan-based Islamists who had been hired to carry out the Samjhauta Express attack."
Judging by recent Hindutva terror attacks, like last year's bombings in Goa, it is unclear if they still have the capabilities to mount a sophisticated attack of the kind seen in Pune. Few investigators believe that the organisations — or other Hindutva cells — mounted the operation. "Still", says one Maharashtra police official involved in investigating both Hindutva and jihadist attacks, "you can't help wondering — what if?"
Signs are the investigation into the bombing of the German Bakery will take time. All that investigators have by way of suspects are three men recorded holding brief meetings before the blast by a poor-quality closed-circuit television camera. From the videotape, it is unclear if the men had anything to do with the attack.
The longer the investigation takes, the more time conspiracy theories and speculation will have to proliferate — likely deepening the communal fissures the bombing is already opening up.
======================================================================================================
Need To Throw The Net Wider
To Catch Pune Bombers
By Mustafa Khan
18 February, 2010
Countercurrents.org
After the knee-jerk reaction against IM (Indian Mujahideen) there is a belated realization that the Pune blast of February 11, 2010 is a different kettle of fish. It bears the hallmark of another group. It was not for nothing that some conscientious people felt sleepless over the readily prepared and readily available explanation for every next bomb blast on the way.
Could the other group be the still elusive one responsible for Malegaon blast of 2006? That group might have used a couple of SIMI activists but the victims and the people in the town do not buy the argument that SIMI itself was involved. The plain reason is cogent enough. Despite a mammoth population of Muslims there is hardly a mass following of the banned organization. Nor are the people given to terrorism of any sort, notwithstanding, the sporadic outburst of communal riots that take place there.
Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit (the main accused in 2008 Malegaon blast) may be behind the bars but some 500 activists trained at Goa hideout and at Bhonsla Military Schols of Nasik and Pune are still at large. He had stolen 60 kg of RDX from the army stock. Traces of it were found in the house of Sudhakar Chaturvedi in Matunga. Some of it Purohit had kept at his house in Pune. A part of it he had given to one Bhagwan for Samjhauta express incident. Then there is narco test record of the accused in Nanded blats. That analysis shows that explosives were given by Mithun Chakravarth (Purohit?) to the Hindutva activists when they were sent out to their assignment from time to time.
Another source of explosives could be from the scrap collection of Shankar Shelke of Ahmednager. On September 16 2006 the police had seized 195 kg of RDX and some bomb shells. Shelke disappeared without any explanation. May be he wanted to evade arrest. Strangely, he committed suicide on the following day. Aurangabad is often mentioned for the haul of arms and explosives. But little do you know that from the Sarpanch of a village near Aurangabad the police had recovered 300 kg of ammonium nitrate, timers and fusers.
The Superintendent of rural police Mr Rajwardhan had remarked that since Malegaon was a Muslim majority area only Muslims could have planted the bombs. Hindus would not dare to do such a thing. But on record there were Hindus there. They were supposed to be within the cemetery where two bombs had exploded and one did not explode. It is said that eighteen of them received compensations from the government. If this were so how come they were within the graveyard and the mosque located there! All the more puzzling is the fact that the police had assured that beggars would not be allowed to reach the gate or the compound wall. Equally astonishing is that the police were not in sight during the Friday prayer when the bombs went off. Rajwardhan had also said that if any Hindu would have done it he would have planted the bombs at night when the casualty would have been much higher as the crowd would be larger. This is a tell-tale remark. On the day the bombs went off, that is, September 8 2006, a television channel showed repeatedly a rickshaw driver of Pune. He narrated that he had carried two passengers who had reached Pune in the evening. They had come from Malegaon. He heard them wonder why it happened during the day when it was to go off at night. This looks ominous because two years later Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur also wondered at the low casualty figure that the bomb explosion at Bhiku chow on September 29 2008 had caused. She was speaking to Ramji Kalsangrah who had planted the bomb and he is still absconding.
It is pertinent to note that even Shiv Sena MLA from the region Dada Bhuse had asserted that Muslims from the town could not have done such a dastardly act. Even so the police who interrogated 20 Hindus let them off. They did not bother to even name them!
Could this be what Kavita Karkare calls (in the context of 26/11 in her forward to Vinita Kamte's book To the Last Bullet) "shameful acts of cover up"?
All these add up to the relevance of Pune.
There are some reasons why this aspect should be thoroughly explored. The IM did not claim responsibility either before or after the blast. If IM is located in Pune in sizable number the least they would want is to arouse the suspicion of investigation authorities. On the other hand Abhinav Bharat is in a different class of its own. Like Sanatan Sansthan its denial is surely going to be accepted by the media without a hubbub created over it. Who now bothers much about Sanatan Sansthan's involvement in Margao, Vashi, Thane and other blasts?
The remote control blast in Pune reminds the commissioner of Pune Satyapal Singh of Malegaon 2006 blast as well as Mumbai local trains bombing of July 2006. In the graveyard in Malegaon the police had found a toy-circuit neatly packed in a plastic box from a place in the cemetery where the bomb did not explode. It could be because it was intended to go off at night while the other two bombs at the cemetery and at Mushawaratchowk went off at around 1.30 prayer time. A tailor from the shopping complex around the graveyard had picked up a corpse without torso with a false beard. It simply disappeared! How sinister!
However, the most sinister was the remark made by ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi. While reacting to the bombs the Hindus were making in Nanded he said with a smirk they were not meant for pooja!
Mustafa Khan is from Malegaon, Maharashtra. He blogs at
http://commonalty.blogspot.com/
--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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